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Your Turn: Narrow focus to stop school shootings

Jonathan J. Doll, Lansing, Michigan
5:36 p.m. CDT August 1, 2014

Police keep onlookers away from the scene where a car allegedly driven by a gunman crashed, on May 24, 2014 in Isla Vista, California, a beach community next to the University of California Santa Barbara.
(Photo:
AFP/Getty Images
)

I visited Isla Vista and was struck by the human element of a city on the mend, and it should spur us to action.

The damage of a school tragedy lasts for decades, and even future generations, as affected people grieve every time additional tragedies happen. Thus, decades after tragic events, deep emotional pain can occur every time a person reads headlines and learns of another tragedy. Pain from these events does not significantly subside during one's lifetime; it continues.

For 15 years, ever since Columbine, many of us have wondered what it will take for America to conquer its lasting problem with school shootings and similar tragedies. Each week, it seems, there are reminders.

This winter, when a fatal school shooting occurred in Centennial, Colorado, the lack of a national solution was palpable. It was an awful tragedy: A student died from injuries received, and her life, which had been an inspiration to many, was cut short. The gunman also committed suicide, leaving a town in mourning.

But as this unfolded, something in me cried, "Enough!" The national dialogue on this problem focuses largely on shooters, motives and mental illness.

More focus is needed on gender — young men under 30 commit the majority of these tragedies. We need to change our culture in ways to help de-escalate this long stream of violence.

We need to talk constructively about care and prevention.

Young people need more adults who care for them deeply. They need to know violence in many forms is not an answer, but instead a sad reality in our present time that we can all cut back on, even if slightly.

What we need are more forms of caring in our communities. This means more care for those with mental challenges, more sensitivity for people who learn differently or who may not have had all the breaks, and more anti-bullying programs reaching into communities so everyone owns the behavior of all students.

Prevention also means that we become more of a society of mentoring. Have you noticed how quick we are to punish others — to judge them, to glory in imperfections, to aim for people's faults and not their highest capabilities?

Instead, we should help others around us. For example, a highly effective positive behavior support system in schools can aim to provide care for the most challenged students and even cultivate their strengths.

We have so many around us who are hurting. Thus, a part of our solution means we need to care for those who need it the most.

A caring heart demonstrated through community service and connected relationships with children and adults is not only the solution for our schools, but also for our society.

This is the opinion of Jonathan Doll, author of the forthcoming book, "Ending School Shootings," due for release by Michigan State University Press in early 2015. He can be reached at jonathan@endingschoolshootings.org.